


Turn Back

by viksherenqueer



Category: Mystery Skulls (Band)
Genre: Canon Continuation, F/M, Ghosts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-05
Updated: 2014-11-05
Packaged: 2018-02-24 06:08:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2570957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/viksherenqueer/pseuds/viksherenqueer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After leaving the haunted mansion, Vivi has this sinking feeling in her gut that she should return and confront the ghost they left behind. So as soon as Arthur lays down to catch some z's, she is speeding back down the road and back to the spooky scary skeleton ghost!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Turn Back

**Author's Note:**

> pink skeleton man and his cute blue girlfriend are so great dont even try to deny it

Vivi couldn’t ignore the feeling in her gut. She just couldn’t. So when Arthur pulls the Mystery Skulls mobile over, she almost doesn’t even notice.

“Vee,” Arthur’s hand reaches out, squeezing her shoulder. “I’m beat. I’m think it’s time to crash.” He jerks his head, motioning to the sleeping bags in the back of the vehicle. Ben looks rather sleepy as well, curled up in the back seat with his eyelids drooping shut. 

“Can I have the keys?” She blurts out, before deciding she should elaborate. “I’m quite the opposite of tired, really! If anything... I’m kind of anxious. I think driving for a little while will help calm my nerves.” Vivi holds her hand out, palm up, expectant.

After a moment of silent debate, Arthur drops the keys into her palm and nods. “A’ight, but the second you need some z’s you cut the engine and follow our example and get your snooze on, promise?” He quirks his mouth, nodding and seemingly refusing to stop until she gave in and agreed. 

“I promise!” She finally yells playfully, punching his shoulder and shaking her head. Arthur laughs, before climbing over the seat and rolling into the back with an ‘oof’. Vivi’s eyes linger, watching as Arthur settles into his own bag, holding the zipper open long before for Ben to manage his way into the sleeping bag as well. Arthur finally yanks the zipper up, hugging his pillow and ignoring the squirming kitsune making a fuss to get comfortable underneath the fabric. 

Vivi quickly slides over to the driver seat, feeling the heat left over from Arthur’s body. She sucks in a deep breath, idly remembering how at one point this was Lewis’ seat, and sticks the keys in the ignition. She slowly starts down the road, fighting with the little voice in her head that kept telling her to _turn back_. 

She knew she was driving slower than she should be, but the road was rather abandoned anyway and she kept getting this creeping feeling in her gut. She had to turn back. She slowly brought the vehicle to a stop, turning her head to peek into the back. Both bodies were still, and Arthur’s quiet snoring was the only evident noise her ears could pick up besides the soft hum of the car engine. 

It’s now or never, she told herself. She would just turn around, explore a little, and get back on the road before morning. She would tell Arthur she couldn’t sleep, and sleep in the next day. She couldn’t decide whether or not she was making a smart decision, but decided she didn’t care too much. Her gut wasn’t going to let her get much farther away from the mansion. 

She slowly crept the car around in a highly illegal U-turn, before starting back down the long stretch of road and wondering just how far Arthur had driven while she had been lost in thought. She had never been very good with directions, so almost instantly she was sure she had gotten lost. Do not fret, she told herself. Lewis always said that the van would take you exactly wherever you wanted to be. So she just followed all the roads and kept herself calm. After an hour or so of driving though, she was beginning to feel a little hopeless. “I cannot be lost,” she told herself as she took a turn down a long road. It seems a little familiar, Vivi thinks, but she can’t be sure. 

She was going to give up, until she began passing a long row of trees on either side of the road. Creepy trees, with low hanging, nude branches. Each tree stretched out like a yawning, multi-limbed other dimensional monster of some sort. These were the exact trees that had been surrounding the mansion they had fled from earlier. Vivi felt a shot of adrenaline, along with a wave of success. She had done it! She had found her way back to the mansion full of _spooky ghosts_ and _animated suits of armor_ and _evil paintings_! Congratulations, she told herself. This is either the worst decision she has ever made, or the second worst. 

Soon she spots the stone fence, which was growing a mess of moss and darker substances. She brought the vehicle to a stop, staring at the mansion as it’s pink windows repeatedly light up and dim again, and listening to the sound of rain pounding against the concrete outside. She couldn’t believe she was doing this. 

She sucks in a deep breath, readjusting her scarf so it was covering part of her hair and opening the door. It was then that she heard the quiet footsteps of what she could only guess was Ben.

“Shhh!” Vivi turns quickly, propping herself up on her knees in the driver’s seat so she could lean over the seat to look at Ben, whose tails flick back and forth as he gives Vivi a questioning look. “Ben, please be quiet!” She whispers, shaking her head. “I just... I need to go for a walk, okay? Go back to sleep. Arthur will get cold if you are not keeping him warm! I won’t be long.” She gave him the most convincing smile she could muster, before retrieving a treat from the glove compartment and giving it to him. 

As soon as he seems somewhat satisfied, Ben returns to Arthur’s sleeping place and proceeds to lay on top of him. Vivi gives him another reassuring smile, before sliding out of the car and closing the door quietly. 

She ran along the concrete as fast as her little legs would take her. The scarf didn’t do much to help with the rain, and within moments she could feel the water drenching through her sweater and chilling her bones. Gosh, it was so cold!

As soon as she got to the front steps, she ducks under the small incline over the door and presses herself up against the doors cool surface. She couldn’t hear anything inside, she thinks as she turns her head a little to rest her cheek on the cool wood. After a moment she pulls back just a little, attempting to stay out of the rain. She yanks off her scarf, as well as her heavy sweater, and frowns as she realized even her camisole is soaked. She sets the sweater on the ground, taking a moment to ring the water out of the scarf and draping it over her shoulder, before doing the same to her sweater. 

She hugs the wet fabric against her cold chest, fiddling with the door knob. And amazingly, it’s unlocked. Well, ghosts probably do not have many reasons to lock doors... She lulls the thought over as she silently enters the mansion, closing the door behind her as quietly as possible. Inside was dryer, but it certainly wasn’t much warmer. 

Tiptoeing along the length of the wall, Vivi decides she should peek out the window and make sure Ben wasn’t trying to follow her. But the sound of grinding glass under her feet halts her. She looks down, lifting her foot and staring at the large bluish cracked heart. Had she dropped it earlier? She believes she did. Sighing, she retrieves it from the ground and turns it over in her palms, frowning at the broken surface. Why did she feel so guilty?

She shook off the feeling, cupping the large heart in her hands as she peeks out the window. It was a little distorted from the rain, but the van remained in the place she parked it. And from what she could see, all was as she left it. She let her eyes wander around the dark yard full of mud and dead grass, and there was no sign of Ben.

Finally she readjusts the sweater so it hangs over a single arm, and examines the heart closer. Was it a giant locket? It seemed to be. She turns it over in her hands, placing her thumbs along the crack along the outside and carefully prying it open. Once it pops open, her gut drops. That picture... That was Lewis and her. Months ago, before... Before everything happened. Her body shakes, partly from the cool air on her wet skin, and partly from mess of pure emotion flooding her senses. Grief, fear, confusion. Her system didn’t know how to properly process it. How did this ghost get ahold of this picture?

She closes the locket, reaching up to wipe her eyes with the back of her hands and settling for shoving the heart into her skirt pocket. Sucking in a deep breath, she composes herself and heads for the staircase. Quickly she climbs each step, tilting her head back to examine the chandelier overhead. She had seen a few too many chandeliers come toppling down, so she couldn’t help but be a tad paranoid over the matter. Soon enough she was up the stairs, turning in a full circle and assessing her surroundings. Picking a direction, she quickly begins down the hall. Silence be _damned_. She has some serious questions for this skeleton ghost guy, and she was not going to leave until she got the answers she sought. 

“Hello!” She suddenly yells with a burst of, what was this? Anger? “I’m here!” She shouts, starting to run down a hallway and peering around. This ghost guy had to be _somewhere_. “Where did you get this picture?” She calls out, louder than before. “Answer me!” Vivi, _calm down_. She told herself she should, but her emotions were not cooperating. Finally she stops, sucking in a deep breath and trying to cool down. Not that she could get much colder. Her teeth were chattering, and goosebumps litter her skin. She takes her damp scarf, wrapping it around her neck again but it does not help. If anything, it was colder.

She sighs loudly, rounding another corner and staring at row after row of lit candles, flickering in the dark. Approaching the tables that greeted the walls of each hallway, she places her hands over the flame in hopes that it would stop them from shaking.

The loud booming thunder causes her to jump, hands jerking and flame licking the skin just barely but enough to earn a loud yelp of pain. Vivi hisses, shoving her hurt hand against the cold, wet fabric of her sweater. She bites her lip, and she suddenly understands the feeling of exhaust that Arthur expressed earlier. The mix of cold, the feeling of defeat, and the overwhelming emotions she had just experienced were genuinely draining. 

But she _needs_ answers. For Lewis. She keeps her burnt palm against the sweater, starting down the hall yet again. It is so dark though, and soon enough she can’t even see. Each step is questioned, as she feels her way along the hall. Hands sliding along dry wallpaper, she can’t help but feel annoyed at the great lack of light switches. Ghost mansion or not, she was quite sure ghosts did not have supervision. Or maybe they did. Either way, she was lost. 

“Ow,” she squeaks as her side jams into the corner of a table. Sit, she tells herself. So she does. She puts her back to the wall and slides downward until she’s safely on the ground, and she reassesses her situation. 

So here she was. She was soaking wet, freezing, lost, and unable to see. Plus this random ghost has a picture of her and Lewis together that only Lewis had a copy of! She turns her head, trying to look down either side of the hallway, but alas, nothing. Pitch black on either side. And besides the sound of rain pounding against the rooftop, it was awfully silent aside the occasional boom of thunder. She has no way of contacting Arthur, and the ghosts haven’t responded to her shouts. And on top of it all, she was fighting to keep her eyes open.

So she did the only sensible thing in that moment. She closes her eyes, and decides a quick recharge would do her good. No sense in attempting to figure out a plan when your head is a jumble and you can’t think straight. So she follows her own advice, and falls asleep quite quickly.

***

“Viv,” Lewis’ sweet voice hums in her ear and she blinks a few times, eye cracking open and glancing upward. Vivi had managed to fall asleep in Lewis’ lap again. Driving long hours could be horrendously boring, and sleep was good for passing the time by. 

“Sorry Lew-Lew,” she hums softly, slowly managing to sit up and brushing her messy bangs out of her eyes. “I always end up leaving you without someone to talk to on these long drives.” Scooting close, Vivi’s lips press gently to Lewis’ cheek, before resting against his shoulder.

“Hey don’t worry about it!” Lewis shakes his head, squeezing a tight arm around her and placing his other hand against the steering wheel. “The radio station for this area was pretty damn nice, so I’ve been mumbling along to oldies for the last two hours.” He grins, turning his head to tilt Vivi’s upward, planting a kiss on her lips softly. “We’re at some burger joint, since Arthur and Ben were complaining about being hungry. I didn’t want anything, though.”

“I’m not hungry either,” Vivi hums, closing her eyes as she rests her cheek against the smooth fabric of Lewis’ letterman jacket.

“Hey, go back to sleep. You look like you need it.” After checking to make sure he was sure, Vivi happily agrees. She hadn’t slept well the previous night, and she was still awfully sleepy. So she slid back down to rest her cheek against his thigh, eyes closing and yawning. She squeezes Lewis’ knee, smiling as she drifts off once again.

“Love you, Lew-Lew,” she manages to mumble before losing consciousness.

***

“Love you, Lew-Lew,” Vivi hums softly, squeezing his knee gently as she curls inward. It’s suddenly so much warmer, with the soft hum of a fire crackling close by. She could smell firewood. Sleepily, she nuzzles her face against his thigh as his fingers work through her hair. “That feels nice,” she mumbles sleepily, eyes prying open and confusion taking over. This was not the Mystery Skulls mobile. This was what looked like a den of some sort, with a large Victorian fireplace blazing a few feet in front of her. Or rather, them. The mansion. She was in the mansion. She glances down, taking in the lap she’s laying in. Dress pants? 

So she sits up quickly, peeking up and catching the wide eyes of the skeleton ghost. He looks rather alarmed, but Vivi is wearing a similar expression. “Where am I?” She asks quickly, mind still fuzzy with sleep.

“Hey, it’s just the den.” He swears, holding his hands up in surrender. His voice sounds... Robotic? But, not in the sense that it’s lacking emotion... More like, something from a pop song. Auto-tuned?

“Why did you bring me here?” Vivi finally asks, finally noticing the suit jacket hung around her shoulders. Was this the ghost’s?

“Because it’s warm,” he says softly, his expression looking rather sad. More confusion for Vivi. But at the same time, there was something so _familiar_ about him. 

The locket, Vivi reminds herself. She pulls the jacket off, draping it over the back of the couch they were on and fumbles around with her skirt pocket. “Where,” she starts as she fights to get the broken heart free of fabric. Once it was out, she pries it open again and turns it so he can see the picture. “Did you get this? It was in my Lew-Lew’s wallet, always. There were no copies of it anywhere! I know he had his wallet on him when...” She trails off, glancing down and sucking in a deep breath. “When he _died_. I know because after everything happened I searched the van up and down and I could not find it.”

“Viv,” he starts and Vivi’s head shoots up, staring down the scary spooky skeleton with wide, questioning eyes.

“How... How did you know he called me that?” She asks blankly, eyebrows knitting together.

He stares back at her for a long moment, before reaching down and patting at his pockets. After a moment he retrieves a wallet, and Vivi manages to look even more surprised. She holds her palm out for it, and the ghost hands it over without hesitation.

With shaky hands, Vivi slowly opens up the cheap, brown leather wallet and examines the contents. The picture, which was usually on the left, was missing. But on the right was Lewis’ driver’s license. He was smiling in the picture, hair combed up into perfection. “Where did you get this?” She looks up, and the ghost was giving her a soft look, like he was giving her time to put the pieces of the puzzle together.

She stares at him for a long moment, before the pieces slowly begin to build. This ghost had a picture that Lewis had on him when he died, as well as Lewis’ wallet which was also on him when he died. “Oh my god,” she states, staring up and the ghost looks so hopeful for a long moment.

“It was you. You’re the ghost who possessed Arthur!” Vivi was suddenly on her feet, clutching the shattered heart against her chest and taking a few steps backwards. “You’re the monster who killed my Lew-Lew!” Her whole being shook, quickly hurrying backwards, one hand behind her to keep her to feel along for anything that would block her path.

“What?” The ghost stood, wide eyed and shaking his head. “No, no, Viv, that’s not what happened. What? Viv, come ba--” He was cut off as a candlestick bounces off his skull, stunning him. Vivi had picked it up quickly, and tossed it. And now she was darting down the hall.

Heart clutched tightly between her fingers, the air whipping around her as she sped down the hall, turning a quick corner. She has no idea where she was at, but that wasn’t important. She had to get out of here! The tears building up in her eyes were blurring her vision, and she had to go talk to Arthur. He had felt so horribly guilty after Lewis’ death! She had to tell him that she knew who was behind it!

The steps! She found them. And down each one she ran, up until the last few when she was startled. From behind the railing of the steps popped up a variety of pink ghosts, with hearts on their chests, popping up and down and chanting. “Jinkies!” She squeaks, losing her footing and stumbling down the last few steps and landing on her side. 

She whines softly, rolling onto her back and clutching her sore ribs. Vivi, shake it off! She tells herself, slowly spinning her body until her feet met the ground and she was standing. But she was too late. Skeleton ghost was floating a few feet in front of her. “Let me leave!” She yells, trying to figure out if there was a way to get around him and to the front door. 

“Viv, wait a sec!” He starts, floating towards her a little too quickly for her own liking.

“Stay away from me!” She tries to duck around him, but he grips her wrist between his skeletal fingers. Vivi turns, swinging an arm up to strike him but he quickly grasps her other wrist as well. “Let go! You killed him! You _killed_ him!” Don’t cry in front of the ghost, she told herself. But she couldn’t help it. Tears flow freely as she struggles, shaking her head vigorously at his denials.

“ _Viv_ ,” he says again, louder, but... Different. The robotic sound was gone. She stops her flailing, eyes peeking up over the rim of her glasses and widening at the sight. The skeleton fingers were gone, replaced by human ones. The suit was gone as well, replaced by the familiar purple letterman jacket. And to top it all off, Lewis was staring down at her with the saddest expression she had ever seen.

“Lewis?” She chokes out, brows knitting together and blinking the tears out of her eyes. “What? I... You’re dead!”

“I _am_ dead, Viv. I’m a ghost. I’ve been trying to tell you that.” He states softly, but the appearance only lasts a few seconds longer before fading back to the skeleton. “But what you said earlier... Possessed? Arthur was... He was possessed when he killed me?”

Vivi didn’t even hear him, reaching up slowly to touch the sides of his skull. “Is it really you?”

“ _Yes_ ," he reassures her, nodding and slowly wounding his large arms around her. “Now... He was possessed?”

“Yeah, he was, but-- Lewis, how are you a ghost?” She searches over his features desperately for something familiar, but she was coming up empty. “Whatever, I do not care how. I am just... I could kiss you, Lew-lew, but... I don’t really know where your mouth is.” She bit her lip, taking a deep breath and just locking her arms tightly around his shoulders.

His large, bony hands slid up her back and held her firmly. Arthur hadn’t killed him out of jealousy. Arthur had probably spent hours lamenting and feeling guilty over his death. His friend was still his friend. And his girl was definitely still his girl.

Finally Vivi pulls back, just taking a step back and looking him over. “We can be the gang again, Lewis. Sure, now you’re totally a ghost and uh,” she turns, eyeing the long row of pink ghosts who seem to have seen the whole mushy reunion. “And you have some ghost friends, but they’ll fit in the van too!”

Lewis’ eyes seem to light up a little like he was smiling, and he nods overzealously. For so long he had wanted nothing more than the companionship he used to feel when he was driving that van.

“What is this?” Both heads turn, catching Arthur, whose clothes are dripping and eyes are wide, in the doorway. His whole body shakes with fear, but there’s a determination there. And soon enough, he’s accross the room and locking the robotic hand around Vivi’s wrist and quickly yanking her away. “Don’t just stand there!”

“No, Arthur, stop!” Vivi squeaks, fumbling in her surprise and pulling on her wrist. He was squeezing a little too hard for her liking. “ _Arthur_!” She whines again, finally gripping his shoulder and whirring him around. “Listen to me!”

“Vee, c’mon!” He tries to continue towards the door, but nearly jumps a foot in the air when the pink ghosts float through the floorboards to block the doorway.

“Zoinks!” He squeaks, gulping loudly and pulling Vivi back a few steps. 

“Arthur,” she starts again, finally reaching up to grip his shoulders tightly and shake him. “Listen. To. Me!” She says again, before pointing back up at the skeleton ghost. “That’s Lewis! That’s his ghost! He didn’t know you were possessed when you killed him and that’s why he was mad!”

Arthur was definitely giving Vivi a look like she had multiple heads, but he turns his head and cuts Lewis a confused look.

Lewis chuckles, reaching up to rub the back of his skull in embarrassment. “Hey... Sorry about the whole... Well, nearly killing you thing, earlier...”

“Vee...” Arthur states, slowly turning his gaze back to Vivi and blinking a few times. “Your boyfriend is a giant skeleton?”

“Well... Yeah.” She finally nods, letting go of Arthur and shrugging. “He is. And I told him he could rejoin the gang and bring his ghost friends along!”

“Uh,” Arthur turns his head, gulping again as the pink ghosts continue to pop up and down through the floorboards. “So um... We, Mystery Skulls Inc... We uh, solve mysteries and get rid of ghosts. And you want to invite Skeleton Toes McGee and the tubular singing ghost orchestra to come with us?”

“Arthur, it is Lewis and his friends. And I already did invite them, so they are coming.” Vivi nods, heading over to take one of Lewis’ skeleton hands.

“We’re gonna go out of business,” Arthur murmurs to himself but finally shrugs. “A’ight, let’s do it. Ghosts don’t eat, do they? ‘Cause I was kinda diggin’ the whole not havin’ to share as much food deal.”

“Hey... I didn’t eat that much,” Lewis chuckles, before patting Vivi’s hair. “One sec, Viv.” He suddenly fades for a moment, but it isn’t long before he returns with his suit jacket and Vivi’s sweater. “So... Gang,” he says the word warmly, familiarily, “let’s go?”

“Let’s blow this popsicle stand!” Vivi jumps in eager excitement, hurrying for the door and gripping ahold of both boys’ hands as she did.

On their way out, all three of them end up soaking wet yet again. It isn’t a long run to the van, though. And as soon as Lewis feels the familiar leather of his seat and the steering wheel between his fingers, they’re speeding down the haunted little road and leaving the mansion behind.

“Hey,” Lewis starts once they’re a few miles down the road. “I have an idea.”

“Yeah?” Vivi perks up from the passenger seat, and Arthur from the back.

“We are never splitting up, _ever_ again.”

“Agreed,” both Vivi and Arthur speak in unison, before cutting each other a grin.

**Author's Note:**

> after they left that chandelier totally fell down


End file.
